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I am so impressed with the outpouring of support from the medical community after the Haiti tragedy. Wow, folks. Even at my dirty little city hospital, nurses are clamoring over each other to get down there with our own disaster relief crew. It seems that we nurses share a very...
Friends, Bee-bop on over to http://www.emergiblog.com and check out the lastest edition of Change of Shift! It’s been a long time since I contributed, so I appreciate being included (rather last minute) in this edition. Enjoy!...
Unsubscribing from nursing negativity
Nursing is hard. No if’s or ands (however, lots of “butts.) That being said, one of my nursing New Year’s resolutions for 2010 was to “not complain.” Of course, it doesn’t mean that I am never going to say anything about my job. Wrong. However, I’m making a really serious effort...
Dear ICU, There is really nothing quite like you, is there? Today when I got home from work, I tried to describe you to my husband. You’re hard to sum up, that’s for sure. This is what I told him. Nothing breaks you down and tramples on your self-esteem quite like the...
Here are the first posts of each month of 2009: January: Where I’ve Been February: Settling Into My Role March: Nurse to Nurse April: Getting My Nursing On! May: Scrubsgallery.com Deals and Coupons June: Assault July: Busy Taking Care of ME August: Great Experiences on the Night Shift September: The Right Thing October: 6 Months In! November: 27 Going on 50 December:...
Nursing New Year’s Resolution 2010
I mentioned in a previous post that I’ve based my 2010 resolutions on a chapter from the book “Better” by Atul Gawande. I recommend reading the book for the most information, but in case you read this blog post first, here are my nursing resolutions for 2010 (yes, seperate from...
Nursing Novellas
I had lunch today at one of those delightfully tacky restaurants. Things were a little bit slow at this place, which I’ll just call Joe Schmoe’s. I think there were, at most, four tables occupied. How happy the wait staff seemed each time another one of those tables filled up! ...
My grandfather died around three o’clock on a Friday afternoon. My grandmother sat at his bedside, clutching his hands as he took his last breath. My father and uncle stood stoically in opposite corners of the room. They grieved in their own quiet way. My aunts sat at the foot...
(*Names have been changed) Her name was Teresa.* She hovered in front of the double doors each morning while waiting for the school bell to ring, always alone. Just like me. As an overweight kid with glasses, frizzy red hair, freckles and an albuterol inhaler permanently attached to my hand, I was...
Miracle: A short story by Amy Glenn Vega
MIRACLE A short story by Amy Glenn Vega The morning comes, and I awaken to the sound of heavy panting and the smell of kibble breath. I turn my head to find a big, black dog lying next to me. “DOWN!” I shout fiercely. He looks at me with sweet, pleading eyes. “I got you...
Nursing Novellas Review: Mary Holtschneider
by Mary E. Holtschneider, RN, BSN, BC, MPA, NREMT-P Amy Glenn Vega’s two nursing novellas, “Lions and Tiger and Nurses” and “Broken Heart”, take us through the lives of nurses at the fictional North Carolina Dogwood Regional Medical Center, Med Surg South nursing unit. Each of the nurses is at a different...
The Nursing Site Blog: Nursing Novellas Offer Unique Teaching Tool
by Kathy Quan, RN BSN PHN Two issues that are major players in the nursing world are loss and grief and lateral violence (aka nurses eat their young). For new nurses, these can be problems that make or break a career. For those who are burned out and having trouble coping with...
Nurse Practitioners in Business
Nurse Practitioner Practice in Australia
Health care, delivered by Nurse Practitioners, in NP run clinics and offices is growing around the world. This is a good thing. We know there is a shortage of primary care providers and health care consumers need and want a choice in their providers. However, despite studies showing that NPs are...
Social Media Survey for Clinicians
Social Media is something that health care providers are talking about. So are the medical-legal folks! We @ NPBO ™ are working on information about how Nurse Practitioners and other clinicans can best use this media for communication and marketing – and do so in a safe and ethical manner...
Members of Nurse Practitioner Business Owner™ will have a chance to ask any question you have during our next monthly Q&A call which is scheduled for Monday January 11, 2010. This benefit is exclusive to NPBO™ members. This is your chance to ask any question to have about start up and...
NP Interviews: KC Arnold, ANP, BC-ADM
What do you do when you are suddenly without a job, and have no prospects of any acceptable employment? And you need to make it happen within weeks? Oh yes, and you are trying to do this post hurricane? You do as Nike® says…”Just Do It”! And that is exactly what...
A Note of Thanks to Nurse Practitioners
As 2009 comes to a close, I’ve been looking back and reflecting on these past 12 months. On a personal level, it’s been a year of change and thus, growth. As is true for most of us, there have been some wins and some loses. Often those loses are lessons in...
Medicare to Hold Payments to Providers
Nurse Practitioners, along with other health care providers can expect to have payments held for “up to the first 10 business days of January”. According to CMS: The President has signed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2010 which provides for a zero percent (0%) update to the 2010 Medicare Physician...
This won't hurt a bit
I'm amazing this time around by how much faster I am showing. Baby/uterus is barely above the pubic bone, but I've already had to break out the maternity tops. I avoided stretch marks with Bobby (helps if you only go to 37 weeks), but I think I look...
I took Bobby to a museum and to lunch with 2 other friends and their toddlers yesterday. He had a great time. I had a great time watching Bobby play with his friends and chatting with my friends. But there was a serious downer to the day which...
Got myself knocked up again. Approaching 15 weeks on Thursday, and due at the end of July. 9 days after Bobby's original due date, and about a month after his actual birth day. Let's see how close I make it this time. We made the decision to...
Dear Mr Limbo - I am sure that President Obama was just hoping praying for a huge, tragic natural disaster EXACTLY like the earthquake last week in Haiti just to help shore up his public image. He couldn't be providing aid because he actually cares about helping people,...
At least he didn't try to eat it
My poor little guy. First he gets rejected by preschool (though, I'm sure he doesn't care one bit about that), and then today, he got his first vomiting stomach bug. I probably should have seen it coming last night when he couldn't even be tempted to eat a...
I'm a nurse, right? At my first job I contended with body fluids from all orifices, missing limbs and enormous, purulent wounds. Now, there is a little more sugar and spice, and a little less of the gory, but I still see my share of fluids and the...
It shouldn't happen in health care
Since handing in my notice I’ve realised the comic element has evaporated from my blog posts, and actually I make no apology for this. I’ve been here long enough for you to know I am silly so you’ll have to humour my lack of humour for the time being. This week looks...
As you know if you have been paying attention over the past few weeks, I’m off to a new job and I am sad to be leaving the old one. There are lots of patients that I would like to say bye to and I don’t like the idea of...
This post is a little premature and hopefully unnecessary but I’m going to publish it anyway. If every cloud has a silver lining, does every silver lining have a cloud? Last week I told you about my job interview and how I have accepted the job, I didn’t mention that this may have...
OK so I am in my consulting room alone, comfort eating. I am suffering a severe case of being illogically logical. Before this morning I would have said that was an oxymoron, I no longer feel it is, I’ll explain in a bit. Fab Oxymoron example! Last week I went for an...
Thank god for that, pass the axe… Christmas is over and I’m gonna hack down that needle shedding pine and get my carpet back! Ahhh, bliss it’s time to get back to normal and stop all this messing around. One minute it’s crazy busy, then we are all sitting around doing...
’tis the season to be a wally…
HO! HO! OH NO!?!?! Yes time hath flown and Christmas season is upon us again. It’s that joyous time of the year when patients try to fatten the staff up, in hope that we’ll be nice to them next year. (As if we can remember who did and didn’t buy us what!)...
Clean up those pesky hairs. Use a length of elastoplast to pick up the residue hairs after shaving/clipping for ECG, suturing, cannulation etc. Bleeding tooth. If a patient presents with persistent bleeding post dental extraction (or knuckle extraction), get them to bite down on a moistened tea bag. The tannic acid...
organ donation: your best nursing?
As I zip around on my trusty Vespa scooter, I hear plenty of people refer to it as a ‘donor cycle’. Fair call. So I guess this…would be my license. Are you on the organ donation register? I think it is a natural extension of our ethical precepts as nurses to at...
and the rest, as they say, is history.
I was looking for something the other day and stumbled into an old shoebox filled with photos from my training. The boys of 1984. This is a shot of the male nurses I trained with. My mate Jeff (2nd from right) is wearing his 3 star badge, so we must have...
It was eight am. A middle aged man in a business suit walked into our waiting room. He wore a crisp pale blue shirt that was unbuttoned revealing a purple grease stained t-shirt, torn and frayed around the collar. The tee was three sizes too small and split from his trousers under...
Not sure about the Bristol Stool Chart? How do I manage a patient with profuse watery diarrhoea? How to make your very own prank poo. My worst experience with poo....
private medical cover: must-have or mirage?
One question you get asked a lot as a nurse is, should I use my private insurance for this admission or just come in under Medicare1? And to tell you the truth, most of the time I haven’t the slightest idea what benefit private insurance will give you at all in...
AANP SmartBrief
Optimer's fidaxomicin is as effective as Vancocin in late-stage study
Optimer Pharmaceuticals' fidaxomicin was as effective as standard therapy Vancocin in treating Clostridium difficile infectio -More- ...
Infant HIV rates decline but racial disparities remain
CDC data showed that even as HIV infections in infants have declined overall, rates for black and Hispanic infants are higher -More- ...
Industry forges ahead into new era of health care
A survey by Healthcare Informatics on the top technological trends for 2010 reveals a strong focus on clinical information te -More- Dialogues in GOUT CME/CE-certified Web-Workshops Module 2: Best Practices in Managing Established Gout Dates: February 2 & 11, 2010 From the convenience of your home or office receive the latest advances in gout & expert...
AANP Slate of Candidates for 2010 Election
The AANP slate of candidates for the 2010 election is posted on the AANP Web site. -More- ...
"Artificial pancreas" shows promise for treating diabetes
British researchers said an external, computer-assisted pump and monitor system successfully controlled blood sugar levels in -More- ...
Tall children more likely to be overweight, obese
A British report found children who were tall for their age were more likely to be overweight or obese and have a higher perc -More- ...
Nurse Story
Health Assessment Resources on the Web, how to make a podcast, and random thoughts
Well, it is time to share some good internet information with all of my nursing friends out there. I had more than one thought this week so I am writing about a few issues…. Read on and Happy Almost February Health Assessment Resources on the WWW Key to the foundational knowledge of...
For those of you out there who routinely care for adolescent females with or without diabetes this next series of posts is for you. We will move through the global nature of eating disorders, body image and females, disordered eating in adolescents, and disordered eating in special populations. I am...
Adolescent Health Conference in Springfield Jan 15th: Want to go?
I have attached the flier if any of you are interested in going to the Adolescent Health Conference sponsored by the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the Missouri Nurses for Public Health. It looks to be a pretty good offering. http://nursestory.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/adolescenthealthcaretrainingbrochure2010-1.pdf Maybe I will see you there! ...
New Nurse Leader Post: Dr. Maithe Enriquez PhD, RN, ANP
There is a great nursing leader you should check out, Dr. Maithe Enriquez. Dr. Enriquez was a pleasure to write about. Check out her mission, leadership and work at http://nursestory.com/nurse-leaders/maithe-eniquez-phd-rn-anp-the-whole-nursing-package/ ...
Non-Nursing (well… o.k. maybe it is Nursing related): Movies you should watch over Christmas break
Students, faculty, nurses, and all other people…. You may have a day or two of down time this Holiday Season and my advice is. TAKE IT! Take a day off, in your pajamas, and relax. Do not clean the kitchen, do not go visit someone, do not go shopping or...
“To Err is Human”: Nursing’s effect on patient safety
What an extraordinary look at patient safety is being provided by the INQRI (Interdisciplinary Nursing Quarterly Research Initiative), from a nursing perspective, on this the 10th anniversary of the RWJF Institute of Medicine’s To Err is Human report. As access, quality, and cost of health care move to the forefront...
NursesPTO
When a girl gets married, it is expected that she will take her husband’s name. This may seem romantic to some, like ownership to others. The process though can be quite complicated. The level of complication has a lot to do with where you are in life...
Are nursing unions really necessary? I am trying to look at this from all angles of medicine. The first point of view I am going to take is that of being a patient. I have been very fortunate in my times as a patient to be surrounded by amazing, educated...
Are more nursing degrees too much?
In October, at the Blogworld Expo I had the privilege of hearing “Nurse Ratched” who blogs at her site Nurse Ratched’s Place speak on a panel. The most fascinating thing she discussed (at least to me) was a phenomenon she noted of nurses always undercutting other nurses. She...
I’ve had 3 colonoscopies. The insurance company was more painful.
I have now had two experiences with colonoscopies….I am only almost 32 but I have a very extensive family history of colon cancer and would like to stay healthy. My father died when he was 50, and he had a brother that died at 40 of colon cancer. His other...
7 reasons I loved being an operating room nurse
1) I could go to work in my pajamas because the hospital provides the scrubs, so I got to change when I got there. I could take a cute outfit to put on after work for any about town errands or about town bar hopping afterwards. 2) I did not have...
Before diving into yet another dry, overcooked holiday fowl this week, I am going to give thanks for getting to attend an old fashioned, rockstar-worthy, hotel-room-destroying party last Sunday night. We arrived kind of late and the two other party goers with me kept staring out the car window pouting because...
RealityRN
Precepting in my last semester of nursing school
I am in my last semester of nursing school and will be graduating in may 2010. I chose ICU for my speciality rotation and I will be precepting in Ortho/ Neuro for the rest of the semester. I may be mistaken when I say that most of the nurses in...
How long does it take to hear from enforcement BON
I am in Texas. I graduated from nursing school in Dec 09. I am waiting to hear from enforcement. I have a misdemeanor for destructive/removal of writing that occured in july 06. My case was dismissed. I am waiting anxiously to hear from the Bon enforcement about my permit. Without...
Do clinics hire student nurses?
I am new here and I want to become a nurse. I’m in my mid 30s and I hope I’m not too old for it. Anyway, my question is can student nurses, what I mean by that is, students still in school not yet licensed/certified as RN be able to...
ACLS written test – Right to have a copy for my CE records?
I recently passed the written test for ACLS. I, unfortunately, was absent for partII-Megacode skills checkoff, that was scheduled the following morning. I realize that I need to complete that portion of the course in order to obtain my ACLS card. I requested a copy of my written exam, for...
I graduated nursing school in 2007. I have taken the dreaded NCLEX 3 times now and i am completly out of things to do to study or prepare for the test. The first time i took the test i took the full week class for Kaplan Nursing. I was invited...
Turned into the oklahoma board of nursing
Ok I will try to keep it short and simple. I graduated nursing school may 2009, took my NCLEX in august and passed. I looked everywhere and no one was hiring “new grads” so I looked into alternatives and found a nursing home close to where I live. I went...
code blog - tales of a nurse
When Beth found out that her husband had cancer, a friend suggested that she look into creating a page on CaringBridge.org. As she puts it, “CaringBridge became a tool to help us communicate with others.” I spoke with Sona Mehring last week, who is the owner of CaringBridge. The site started...
A Rambling and Some News and Some Other News
I took care of an elderly man recently. He’d been dealing with multiple medical problems for almost 30 years. Despite being in some very significant pain, he still made eye contact, still said “please” and “thank you.” He wasn’t faking the pain. He was very stoic, but I could tell he...
Change of Shift & The Doctor Anonymous Show
First of all, hightail it over to Reality Rounds for the latest edition of Change of Shift! She did a splendid job of making it very spooky by renaming our blogs. (I am Corpseblog!) And tune in tonight at 6pm PST to the Dr. Anonymous show, where he will be interviewing...
Grand Rounds Volume 6, Number 6
Welcome to Grand Rounds! This is volume 6, number 6…. and the 6th time I am hosting… during the week of Halloween. Does anyone else find that creepy coincidentally satanic fascinating?! (Incidentally, if you are reading this through RSS, I am aware that the formatting is less than optimal. Very sorry...
Last week I attended the Blog World Expo conference in Las Vegas. This is the first year that medbloggers had a track all to ourselves! The sessions I attended were interesting, and as part of the audience I was delighted to watch my fellow medbloggers on the panels. There were...
Grand Rounds is up at Sharp Brains today! Next week, Grand Rounds will be held here at codeblog for the 6th time (Yes, GruntDoc, I counted!) Use the submit your story/contact form at the top of the page, or email to codeblogrn gmail. There is no theme, but it will be...
ANA SmartBrief
Researchers find gene variants that boost risk of preterm labor
Variations in a fetus' interleukin 6 receptor and the mother's tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 2 gene appear to increas -More- ...
U.S. nurses say basic skills guide patient care in Haiti
Common sense and basic nursing skills were key for U.S. nurses who went to Haiti and cared for earthquake victims. -More- ...
Medicare cuts could jeopardize cancer care for elderly
Low Medicare reimbursement rates are jeopardizing cancer care for the elderly by making it financially difficult for centers -More- ...
Study: ICU catheter infections can stay at near zero
A study done at 90 intensive care units in Michigan hospitals found rates of catheter-related infections were maintained at n -More- SAVE 20% ON YOUR BSN OR MSN TODAY!Regis University now offers you a way to earn your BSN & MSN degrees ONLINE in ½ the time & at ½ the cost!...
Industry forges ahead into new era of health care
A survey by Healthcare Informatics on the top technological trends for 2010 reveals a strong focus on clinical information te -More- ...
Many U.S. adults don't get routine vaccinations
Many U.S. -More- ...
Correctional Nurse . Net
Complimentary Nursing CE Webinar Inmate Healthcare Interactions: Guarding Your License and Safety Tuesday, February 2, 2010 2pm Eastern Presenter: Lorry Schoenly, PhD, RN, CCHP-RN Register Here: http://bit.ly/bhxHeC ...
The History of Correctional Nursing
Correctional Nursing Today – Radio Talk Show via The History of Correctional Nursing. ...
Help! My Patient is a Psychopath!
Unfortunately, your psychopathic patient is not as easy to identify as the fellow in the pix. He or she will be quite charming and attentive. If you aren’t careful, you will be drawn right into his current scam. Nurses working medical are not always savvy about the ways of the...
Unfortunately, correctional nurses must be wary of a variety of motives behind inmate-patients seeking medical or mental health treatment. Malingering is defined as the intentional falsification or exaggeration of symptoms for external motives or secondary gain. There is a high incidence of malingering in jails and prisons. A reported 20%...
Potential Interview Questions Earlier I posted on what you should look for when interviewing for a correctional nursing job. Here in Part II, I’ll help you prepare for the interview by developing responses to some common interview questions. These questions were suggested by members of the Specialty Forum for Correctional Nurses...
Prison Tattoos – What Nurses Need to Know
Photo by Viet Tieu Tattoos have been a part of prison culture for some time. Prison tattoos are most often obtained to identify allegiance to a particular gang. Tattoos (also called Tats or Ink) can identify skills, specialties, or convictions. Read about ways tats communicate information. Tattooing is usually forbidden in the...
Sunbelt Staffing
Cultural Awareness in Special Education
As a special education teacher, there are several things that can be done to within both inclusion classrooms and special education classrooms. Some of the best ways to include a variety of cultures into any type of classroom is through fun activities.Cultural Awareness in Special Education is a post from:...
Speech Therapy for the Elderly
Geriatric speech therapy has become an increasingly popular field. Baby boomers have brought the elderly population to new heights, with an even larger increase expected in the near future. This has led to an increase in the demand in speech therapists that specialize in helping elderly patients. Some of these...
The Difficult Decisions of an ER Nurse
When choosing any nursing specialty, it is important to test drive the environment before making a final decision. This can be accomplished by taking a position as a traveling nurse and visiting different areas of the country as well as different nursing environments.The Difficult Decisions of an ER Nurse is...
When the Customer has Changes in Prescription Coverage
Recently, my husband informed me that our health insurance coverage was going to be changing. We had four new options, all with benefits different from what we have had for the past several years. Some of these changes are good, but some, like our prescription medication coverage, is not so...
I had never heard of nurse anesthetists until a few years ago. After doing a bit of research on the topic, I realized that few people probably had. It seems to be a profession known well in the medical community, but not as well amongst the general population. A few years...
I have many friends in the field of education, specifically special education. I have a special place in my heart for children, as many mothers do, and find myself enthralled by the different ways educators reach out to students with special needs. Children with emotional problems, who I have worked...